Question : Bio-Diesel

(a) whether bio-diesel is being sold at large scale in the country and if so, the details thereof along with the criteria to ascertain the quality of bio-diesel;
(b) whether the outlets selling the bio-diesel have taken any approval from the Government in this regard;
(c) the details of the steps being taken by his Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and State Governments to augment farming of bio-fuel crops; and
(d) whether his Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is making/proposes to ensure the sale of this fuel at a minimum price after purchasing the bio-fuel crops from the farmers?

MINISTER OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS
(SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
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(a) & (b) : The Government has allowed the direct sale of biodiesel (B100) for blending with high speed diesel to all consumers, in accordance with the specified blending limits and the standards specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards, with effect from 29th June, 2017. For this purpose, “Guidelines for sale of Biodiesel for blending with high speed diesel for transportation purposes-2019” have been issued vide Notification dated 01.05.2019.
(c) & (d) : Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) had entered into Joint Ventures (JVs) / Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) to carry out jatropha plantation with the help of Gram Panchayats in Uttar Pradesh.
BPCL had formed a Joint Venture (JV) Company named “Bharat Renewable Energy Ltd. (BREL)” which entered into agreement with the Panchayats to grow Jatropha / Pongamia plantations in their fallow lands. The JV company closed down due to poor yields and high operating cost.
Similarly, IOCL had formed ''Indian Oil Ruchi Biofuels LLP'', a LLP firm, to participate in `Jeevan Jyoti Yojana'' Project of Government of Uttar Pradesh, for Jatropha plantation by Gram Panchayats on Panchayat wasteland. The LLP facilitated jatropha plantation in 1818 hectares. IOCL has to exit from LLP since no seeds were made available by Gram Panchayats for biofuel production.
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